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Since I feel I have come to know some of you electronically - although not yet personally - I hope I am not too immodest in assuming that you might find this personal plug of some interest.

This summer, from 1 July through 20 July I will be participating - as a student - in the Victoria Piano Summer School, held at the University of Victoria, Victoria British Columbia. The three-week session will involve:
- one one-hour private lesson per week
- two one-hour private coaching sessions per week
- one master class per day
- four hours per day scheduled practice time
- participation in informal recitals
- participation in a final formal recital
- required performance of a four-hand prescribed piece with duet partner (some of the Brahms Opus 39 Waltzes)

Becoming an adult student after more years than I can count on fingers and toes is going to be somewhat intimidating but also very exciting, too. Many of us adult piano lovers/players only dream of such a session: three weeks of no other responsibilities than those associated with playing the piano.

I hope to work on my technique, polish up some of those pieces I have been "playing at" for years (and maybe bring them up to performance level) and - teacher willing - learn a couple of new pieces.

I also hope to have internet access so that I might report on progress, if progress there be!

Thanks for reading! Wish me fun!

Best regards,

Very cool Bruce!

Kind of like a music fantasy camp for adults!

Have fun!

Sounds wonderful, Bruce, Congratulations! I would love to do something like that--I'm jealous!
Lyn

Bruce I plan on doing one of these one day.
keep us posted.
May I ask the price?
Why did you select this one.

Victoria is beautiful.
Don't miss high afternoon tea at the Empress Hotel and Butchart Gardens.

Kenny (and others):

I selected this program because it is one of the few I was able to find that accepted non-professional adults of a "certain age." There are also no criteria for admission except filling out the application and paying the fees. To date, at any rate, all applicants are accepted.

Many of the summer music camps I researched require that adult participants be either professional musicians or aspiring to a professional career in music AND be under 35 years of age - talk about age discrimination!

The basic cost of the three-week "Adult Core Program" ranges from $370 for beginners to $460 for advanced adults. Supplementary courses (private lessons, practice supervision, sight reading, technique classes, ear training, sight reading, etc.) range from $44 per hour to $172 for the session. Remember, too, that these prices are in the currently (for us) deflated Canadian dollars.

Only by coincidence - because I stumbled on this program quite by accident - Victoria is my home town and the University of Victoria is my undergraduate Alma Mater. So, with all thanks and respect, I will skip high tea at the Empress for the rush-them-through-the-mill-just-to-say-they've-done-it tourist schlock that it has come to be in recent years! Of course I agree with you about the beauty of Victoria. I know it well as I return there every summer. I may or may not "do" the Butchart Gardens again this year. Nevertheless, I hadn't heard of the Victoria Piano Summer School, even though it's now in its twentieth year.

Thank you for your good wishes,

Regards,

I hope its a very rewarding experience for you Bruce! I wish I had the time and money to participate in a summer camp like that. What pieces will you be working on? When will the formal recital be?

That sounds fantastic, Bruce! I too would be curious to hear what pieces you will be working on. And please do keep us posted while you're there.

Cheers,

Grotius.

Bruce,

This sounds great. I hope you have a wonderful time. Is there a website for this school?

Our piano teacher suggested a summer music camp for my daughter and since then I've discovered a ton of such schools for "talented young musicians". It made me wonder if there are many (or any?) programs for "talented old musicians". Or how about "untalented but dedicated and passionate, getting-to-be-middle-aged musicians". Or how about "hopelessly mediocre but hoping to improve pianists"? Hey, I'll go wherever they will take me.

So thanks for sharing this with us. I look forward to hearing all about your experience.

Vid, Grotius:

As for pieces I'll be working on, I definitely want to bring up to performance level some of the following, since they are almost there, already:

Schubert: Impromptus, Op 90, Nos 2, 3, and 4;
- Impromptu Opus 142, No 3.
Rachmaninoff: Preludes, Op 23, Nos 4 and 6
Chopin: Berceuse
- Etude Op 25, No 1;
- Waltzes, Opp 34, No 2; 69, No 1; and 70, No 1
Brahms: Intermezzi, Op 117, Nos 1 and 2;
- Rhapsodie Op 79, No 2

I also want sometime to "resurrect" the following from my past:
Bach: Well Tempered, Bk I:
- c minor (No 2),
- g minor (No. 16) and
- Bb major (No. 21)
Beethoven : Sonatas No 8 in c minor (Op 13)
- No 9 in E major, (Op 14) and
- No 17 in d minor (Op 31, No 2)
Rachmaninoff, Prelude, Op 23, No 5
Chopin: Etudes: Op 10, No 3 and No 12
Liszt: Etude: "Un sospiro";
- Liebestraume, No 3

I want to study a new Chopin Etude; either Op 10 No 8 in F major, or Op 25, No 5 in e minor.

Now, aren't you sorry you asked?

Well! Obviously some choices are going to have to be made; it will be frustrating - but it should be fun - to try to narrow the choice down to something that can be profitably worked on in a three-week period.

Thanks for the interest; I appreciate your asking.

Regards,

Bruce, that sounds wonderful! That's something I'd love to do one of these days. Actually, for me, a friend of mine twisted my arm hard enough, and I signed up for voice lessons, which will start in July. My friends claim that if I can fix my breathing, my singing will be just fine. We'll see. And I do hope you have internet access up there, it would be great to hear of your progress!

Thanks for sharing!

BruceD, I cannot stress how envious I am of you. It sounds like 3 weeks of heaven on earth. I look forward to when I can manage enough time off to do something similar. HAVE FUN and please report how it all went when you return.

(BTW, you do realize that I was only stating my personal preferences in the other room and I think the Estonia's are beautiful pianos and would be on my list of contenders if I was shopping. )

BruceD:

The camp sounds fantastic! I'm with nancyww... please check out how many of the pianists fit into the "hopelessly mediocre but ever hopeful" category! Maybe we could have a forum rendezvous there next summer.

Let's hope you have internet access, or at least you have the opportunity to debrief all of us upon your return.

I'm jealous... uninterrupted piano AND Victoria at one time.

Nina